Psychologists have long known the importance of being delusional. According to Taylor and Brown, for instance, delusional people have higher levels of well being-that is, happiness-than those who are not delusional.

There are three forms of delusion that most people exhibit. First, people may believe that they have more control over events and outcomes-even chance ones-than they actually do. Further, people believe that their future is rosier than it will actually turn out to be. Finally, individuals’ faith in their abilities is incommensurately higher than their actual abilities. …